er Lord with perfect peace, and waiting his
will. A few hours, perhaps, may show us that it is but a little trial
of our faith to draw us nearer the fountain of our life. To nature it
seems fearful to think of the plague entering our dwelling; in our
present situation, nothing but the Lord's especial love could sustain
the soul in the contemplation of a young family, left in such a land,
at such a time, and in such circumstances; but we feel we came out
under the shadow of the Almighty's wing, and we know that his pavilion
will be our sanctuary, let his gracious providence prescribe what it
may. On his love, therefore, we cast ourselves with all our personal
interests.

_May 8._--The Lord has this day manifested that the attack of my dear
dear wife, is the plague, and of a very dangerous and malignant kind,
so that our hearts are prostrate in the Lord's hand. As I think the
infection can have only come through me, I have little hope of
escaping, unless by the Lord's special intervention. It is indeed an
awful moment, the prospect of having a little family in such a country
at such a time. Yet, my dearest wife's faith triumphs over these
circumstances, and as she sweetly said to me to day, "The difference
between a child of God and the worldling is not in death, but in the
hope the one has in Jesus, while the other is without hope and without
God in the world." She says, "I marvel at the Lord's dealings, but
not more than at my own peace in such circumstances." She is now
continually sleeping, and when roused feels it difficult to keep her
dear mind fixed on any subject for a minute. These are indeed the
floods of deep waters, but in the midst of them the Lord is working
his mysterious way, yet that way, however bitter to nature, is for the
everlasting consolation of his chosen ones. She said to me, a few
minutes since, "What does the Lord say concerning me." I said, that
you are a dear child of his. "Yes," she said, "of that I have no
doubt." May the Lord of his infinite mercy sustain my poor weak soul
amidst these heavy visitations, that at least we may magnify him,
whether by life or by death; what a relief it is now to my mind to
think that her's was so much set against moving, whenever I proposed
it, and she often said in reply, "The Lord has given me no desire nor
sense of the desirableness of moving, which I feel assured he would
have done had he seen it best."

_May 9._--My dearest, dearest wife still alive, an